“For most of the first half of the Spain-Holland match, the defending champions had been in complete control and were up 1–0 as halftime approached. Then Robin van Persie struck in the 44th minute and turned the game upside down. … Ultimately, the first rule of defending is that you don’t let an attacker get behind you. But allowing a talented player like Van Persie to receive the ball 30 yards from goal in the middle of the field isn’t far behind. More than a tactical error, it seems that Spain’s biggest problem was Ramos’s and Pique’s execution. Notice that Pique is slightly behind the defensive line, holding Van Persie onside. If he had been in line with the rest of the defenders, RVP would have been offside. Now, it’s usually the opposite-side outside back or weak side center back who has the best view of a developing play, and so he calls the line, commanding his defensive partners in front of him to hold, step, or drop.” Fusion (Video)

Holland’s World Cup win over Spain wasn’t the return of Total Football – Louis van Gaal has created something new
” By 1661, Rembrandt had fallen on hard times. Golden Age Amsterdam was turning against the gritty, unglamorous realism of his paintings. They wanted lustre, not texture. But Rembrandt was not going to go down without a fight. And so, when he was commissioned to paint a historical scene to hang in Amsterdam Town Hall, he knew that he would be expected to produce something decorous, reverent, heroic: a bold piece full of strong colours and glorious poses, in keeping with the style of the age. The Conspiracy of Claudius Civilis, when it emerged, was none of these things. It was harsh, dimly lit, borderline disturbing. The barbarian chieftain of the title is depicted with his one blind eye not obscured in profile, but front-on, in full and queasy detail. It was one of Rembrandt’s greatest works. But it was too harrowing by far for the Amsterdam city council, who rejected it and returned it to the artist. In financial difficulties and now with a five-metre painting nobody wanted, Rembrandt was forced into the single most traumatic act that a painter can undertake.” Telegraph

Holland’s beautiful goals put the wonder back in World Cup
“Vicente del Bosque was not expecting that, and Louis van Gaal – “We had a plan but I never imagined it would work out quite so well” – was not expecting it either. Ron Vlaar, penalised for the first foul challenge after just 13 seconds, was not expecting it, and neither were the six Spain fans in replica shirts – three middle-aged couples from Valencia – who turned up a little sheepishly in a Salvador seafront restaurant on Friday evening and politely asked for a table without a view of the television. Not since the heyday of Monty Python, it appears, has anyone been quite so surprised by a Spanish inquisition.” Guardian

What If the Most Beautiful Goal of the World Cup Has Already Been Scored?
“I am sure there will be a few memorable goals during the rest of the World Cup—we’re only on day three—but the one scored by Robin van Persie of Holland against Spain to tie the game justifies the entire tournament. Those of us who wait four years for this fiesta de fútbol so that moments such as these might nourish us know full well they are few and far between. This one came early and might not be surpassed.” New Republic (Video)

Spain Was Asking for Trouble Against the Netherlands
“Spain played a high defensive line, positioning themselves well forward, near midfield. It left them vulnerable. . .” NY Times